Event | Sinbrilee | Bacchanal

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: August 24 - 30th
Location: Sinbrilee
Situation: An ancient festival of an ancient city, all are welcome at the Bacchanal!
Warnings/Rating: Please label threads as appropriate.

Death and destruction cannot curtail the single most important festival celebrated by the denizens of Sinbrilee: The Bacchanal! The ghosts in and about the city have begun to gossip about high fashion and festivities, sending any that inquire to the Amphitheatre -- a grand, circular structure nestled in the west side of the city.

This structure bore the fall of Sinbrilee and the wear of time with dignity, having lost handfuls of archways and one long stretch of wall to crumbling decay. Despite this, it is obvious that the amphitheatre once hosted many a display and every more festivities than the mind can grasp. This was their solace and safety; here is where the people of Sinbrilee came to find the mind's escape from all that threatened them and their great turtle.

Ghosts have been busy throughout the week, clearing paths through debris and hanging great cloth banners of soft blues and greens to disguise the more blatant signs of its decline. Many hundreds of them shimmer and slid through the area, providing for tables upon tables of food, offering drink, and overseeing competition of sport and skill (some even denying death's non-corporeal curse to enter).

Here, well... Here is where the party begins!

Food & Drink | Music, Discussions, & Dancing | Wrestling & Competitions

Comments

[unetrustworthy]

[One didn't have to look very hard to catch the look of genuine surprise on her face. Midii averted her gaze for a moment, eyes darting over to the dance floor. Seeing the various couples and small groups of individuals moving around with a learned grace. Soft melodies rang through the air in time to their feet. The people were smiling. Happy. Good people, who deserved to be so.]

Why?

[Her hesitation was twofold. Midii had little experience with dancing herself, a hand self-consciously raising to the spot where her tiny cross was still tucked beneath her neckline. But there was also the matter of what had transpired the last time she'd seen the boy inviting her to dance.]

You saw what I did. [Voice low, so that nobody but him would hear.] You know what I am.

[demon_brat]

[Did Damian look happy? Or remotely considering himself likely or deserving of happiness?]

First, [his voice lowered further, smoothing,] I know what you are, and what you think you want to be. I do not know what you will want to be if and when you see more of your options. Second... you came here tonight.

[Nobody had made her do that. So she had to have had reasons, and if those reasons led her to a party, that meant that dancing was not out of the realm of possibilities.]

[unetrustworthy]

[She didn't know what the say to that. He was trying to convince her of something she was sure couldn't be true. And yet...he had seen everything. He did know. And he had yet to reject her. Just the opposite, in fact. He came to her. The concept was so unfathomable that she couldn't help wondering what the catch was.]

I...haven't danced in a long time.

[A slight deviation, but not completely irrelevant.]

[demon_brat]

We can start somewhere private until you are confident.

[He'll take this at face value. Some things... he knows first-hand how some concepts - especially of acceptance - need time to sink in. Also, he clearly lacks no confidence at all. Whatsoever.]

[unetrustworthy]

[Private. As in, just the two of them. She wouldn't have to worry about other people watching. For someone who hated being in the spotlight, it was the ideal option.]

[Eyes still on the dance floor, she gave a brief nod in agreement.]

[demon_brat]

[Damian nodded back, then held out his hand in her field of vision.]

[Whenever she took it, he would take her to one of the 'terraces' - somewhere where music and light spilled out into the sunless city, but there was nobody in sight.]

[unetrustworthy]

[She accepted, slipping her hand into his. Only then she she turn and face him, quietly following the boy out to what looked like a small, ground-level balcony. The air was pleasantly warm, and smelled of a hint of flowers. Best of all, there wasn't a soul around.]

[Waiting for his cue, Midii took a step forward. Keeping a middle-school-dance level of distance between them, but enough to place a hand on his upper arm, like she remembered. Her other hand remained clasped in his. Her eyes briefly lowered, staring at their feet. Waiting for further instruction.]

[demon_brat]

[Damian listened for a moment, catching the count of the music, and started counting it out loud for her, without moving from the position she had chosen - it suited him fine. After about three counts, he started listing, his voice keeping the count still, the elementary step to start the dance with.]

[When the easy figure-eight was recited twice, he counted once with 'ready in two', then 'ready in one', and continued counting - but also started moving, following his own instructions but, even more, completely attentive to if and when and how she would move, ready to compensate for her.]

[unetrustworthy]

[She was stiff, and a fraction of a second off. But when he moved, she moved. In such a way that it was very obvious she was trying too hard to watch him and react accordingly. If he went left, so did she. If he moved back, she followed. Awkwardly, but she had yet to step on his toes...possibly because her eyes still kept drifting down to their feet.]

[demon_brat]

[Damian, on the other hand, moved with his usual fighting grace. Light on his feet, in perfect time with the music, and yet staying clear off her feet or of jerking her off balance.]

[He gave her four repetitions of the steps pattern, then spoke up again.]

Listen to the music. Move with the music, not me.

[unetrustworthy]

[She glances back up at him just long enough for him to see the frown of concentration. His grace didn't go unnoticed, and she was trying to imitate it. Ironically, however, it was only causing her body to stiffen even further.]

But then how will I know which way you're going?

[demon_brat]

You learned the steps, did you not?

We will only be doing those, with the music, until you learn how to dance to the music.

After that, we will work on variations.

[Damian is not at all bothered by the idea of dancing through this dance with only the simple basic steps, repeated over and over again. Learning physical things is like that, sometimes.]

[unetrustworthy]

[Her lips pressed together. Uncertain, but determined. She could do this. It shouldn't be as hard as she was making it out to be.]

[Inhaling softly, she nodded. Signaling for him to try again. This time, her eyes only glanced down once, before remembering herself and settling on a spot somewhere around his right breast pocket. Glazed over, as she focused more on what she heard and felt rather than what she was seeing. The dance was slow. Good. Easier to follow the beat. And Damian's every movement was deliberate. Back. Side step. Forward. Side-step.]

[It was around the third pass that her body gradually began to relax. The tension leaving her shoulders. And her own movements gradually became more fluid, moving in near-perfect synch with his. There was still the occasional stumble. Moving the wrong foot at the wrong time. But she corrected herself and compensated for the disruption each time.]

[Then, around the tenth pass, Midii realized something. She was smiling. Pleased at her own progress, her gaze lifted to meet with his...and that's when she caught herself, expression immediately fading into something far more neutral.]

How am I doing now?

[demon_brat]

[Damian wasn't smiling, but his expression was eased from the distaste it had been showing for a while - a while, before she looked up.]

[At her question, he met her eyes, and raised an eyebrow.]

Let us find out.

[The variation he tried wasn't big, but it was definitely a difference from the dozen-times repeated pattern. He didn't look away from her eyes, and he didn't miss a beat from the music, but he did guide her into the changed steps, leading the dance into a turn, attentive of her balance.]

[Yes, it was a test.]

[She did ask.]

[unetrustworthy]

[It was the eye contact that clued her in. That fleeting window where his gaze flickered, giving away what he was about to do. Combined with her taking his advice about listening to the music, and she knew when. All that was left was to allow him to lead her.]

[So she did.]

[The turn went smoothly. Hands rising up and over her head, pulling her that much close to her to properly execute the movement. Her recovery was less than perfect, but only threw them off for one count. By the next, she was back in the same position as before. Continuing on, as if there had been no delay.]

[demon_brat]

[He led her to a full count of the steps, after the recovery, before he nodded, slightly.]

Improving.

[And, half a repetition of the steps later,]

It is another kind of exercise. In fact, graceful fighting is often compared to dancing. So you improve in it as all the others - understand the rules that govern it, and practice.

Again.

[And he initiates the exact same turn again. With some things, Damian does have patience.]

[unetrustworthy]

[Knowing what to expect, she does much better the second time around. Midii was a fast learner when she needed to be. And Damian was a surprisingly good teacher.]

Except I never learned how to fight, graceful or otherwise.

[demon_brat]

Well, I did. A lot.

[The next new figure is actually easier, a variation of the basic step, a half-turn to one side or the other.]

Did they only teach you how to read people, then?

[unetrustworthy]

[She faltered, but not in her step. The subject was a painful one for her. Reliving her time spent away from her family. Being taught to do things she knew would result in the loss of so many lives.]

I...was always good at reading people. It was one of the reasons they chose me.

[That, and she hadn't backed down when the soldier approached her. She had been either very brave or very foolish that day. Exactly what the Alliance was looking for.]

[demon_brat]

I see.

[Quiet, his voice was quiet and contained, but very, very much not happy.]

[... so, of course, he was going to push away from that - by starting to lead her through the most complicated pattern yet. That counted as a diversion, did it not?]

[unetrustworthy]

[The diversion was a welcome one; she went back to counting the steps in her head, while watching his eyes and shoulders. Her following wasn't as graceful as his, but by now she had the sense to know where he was going by his body language and react accordingly. Only slightly off the music tempo.]

[demon_brat]

[... and then they ran out of that music. Because not even tunes at parties go on forever.]

[Damian easily spun her away, and then bowed, very properly.]

Thank you for this dance.

[unetrustworthy]

[Much to her surprise, Midii found herself experiencing a slight pang of disappointment when the dance ended. Still, she respectfully pulled away once Damian spun her that last time, replying to his bow with a shallow curtsy.]

Thank you for teaching me.

I won't keep you if you have other places you need to be.

[demon_brat]

It was... not unpleasant.

[A moment, and his eyebrows, once again, rose.]

We are at a party. There are so many places where I might need to be, here.

[unetrustworthy]

[She watched his expressions carefully, gauging the reaction. A faint smile when he admitted the dance had been 'not unpleasant' to him. She'd enjoyed it as well. Though the smile turned...oddly sad when he mentioned other potential places to be. Places to be meant people to see, and she didn't have many of those.]

If that's true, then go ahead.

I'll probably just head home. I don't have any reason to stay.